Hey I’m Jake Thompson, and I’m going to be working with Nick on this wonderful site. Thanks for taking the time to read my stuff, and as always, comments are appreciated and will be answered asap.
Warning: I thought the Myron Rolle pick by the Titans was an excellent decision, and I am proud to have him on my team. That being said, this will not be a fawning piece of gushing praise for this player. I intend for this to be a look at Rolle, the good, and the bad, from a football and non football perspective. This is just the start of a planned series on each draft pick, detailing in depth the good and bad from each player.
The Good: Well…I mean Rolle is smart, he’s a Rhodes Scholar who spent a year in Oxford, England studying. Rolle was the top rated recruit in the entire nation coming out of high school according to the ESPN150. Very good against the run, and at 6-2, 215, He can provide great hitting power. His brain means he will know the playbook, and will always take great angles to the ball in order to make up for any physical deficiencies he may have.
The Bad: While Rolle is big, and does very well against the run, it would seem that he has somewhat stiff hips. The unfortunate thing about that is really, there’s not a whole lot you can do about that. I’ve got stiff hips, and no matter how much I try, you can’t really loosen them all that much. What this means is that Rolle has trouble turning quick enough from his backpedal to running with a WR, which can hurt him against faster receivers. He is not the best man to man coverage safety. Some scouts question his commitment to football after taking a year off to study in Oxford.
Where Does He Fit In: This one is hard to figure out…I know he will contribute on special teams, and could be a solid backup safety for run situations. Some see him as a dimeback, but I just think his coverage skills need too much work before we get to this point. Only time will tell with Rolle.
Overall: There’s no getting around that Rolle has some physical limitations. He has stiff hips, and can be beat from a pure athletic standpoint. On the plus side, no one will work harder than him, be more prepared then him, and be a smarter player on the field. If nothing else, he makes us and the Titans have a great spokesperson and arbiter of arguments in the locker room. If I wanted to grade this pick, which is a totally awful idea because you don’t really know until 3 years down the road, I’d give it a solid B+